


Lost Boys Like Me (Are Free)

by Rosie_Petal



Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Found Family, Gen, Slow Burn, Their lives start off even worse at the beginning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-05-26 02:24:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14990711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosie_Petal/pseuds/Rosie_Petal
Summary: Two teens search for the middle of nowhere. Another two have already made it their home. Trini just wants all of these weirdo kids out of her space.





	1. Intro

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NovaOmegaDelta](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NovaOmegaDelta/gifts).



> Keep in mind as you read that this is very AU. All will be explained in due time. 
> 
> Meanwhile, listen to Lost Boy by Ruth B if you want to cry a bit.

Two teenagers stand silhouetted in the vague remnants of sunset, their figures slowly heading towards the outskirts of the forest. Bags weigh heavily on their backs, making every footstep that much harder to take. 

“We’re really doing this,” a feminine voice states, breaking the steady silence between them. Her companion parrots the sentiment back to her. Even though their escape plan is in mid-execution, it’s the act of saying it out loud that seems to solidify it as something real. They’re doing what they should have done in the first place.

They’re running away. 

Off to a town so contradictory to who they are, that no one would ever think to look for them there. A boring, safe place in the middle of nowhere.

They are heading to Angel Grove.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, another pair of teens argue.

“WHY do you ALWAYS have to be here?! Huh? Would it kill you to just let me have this place?”

“Hey there Crazy Girl, I’m just a simple dude trespassing on the same land as you. You’re the one who keeps approaching me.”

“Don’t try and pull that innocent act ‘ _dude’._ I’ve seen your binoculars - I _know_ you’re stalking me.”

“Well it’s not everyday that I get to see a free Karate Kid show in the middle of nowhere.”

Except that that’s exactly what he sees everyday, for almost a year now. Zachary “Zack” Taylor has witnessed this tiny latina before him go through her whole act more times than he can count. She climbs on top of the tallest cliff and goes full yoga-master, eyes closed and headphones blaring, like an absolute madman. It’s the best part of Zack’s day, and if he’s being honest, he’s pretty sure the girl is a figment of his imagination; something his brain created to keep him from going insane in this isolated life he made for himself.

The first time they made eye contact, Zack was ecstatic, _positive_ they would be best friends one day.  

It didn’t work out that way. Most days she would just flip him off or ignore his presence entirely. Her cliff wasn’t _that_ close to his traincar. He’d whoop and holler for her attention, but she was often _just_ out of earshot.

This afternoon though, was one of the special ones. She had crossed the distance to tell him off to his face. Zack was a master of annoyance, and he’d broken her resolve yet again.

It finally registers that the girl is still yelling at him. “What’s your name?” He asks, interrupting the rant.

The fiery girl growls, looking two seconds away from the kill. “Wouldn’t you like to know. Creep.”

Zack sighs exaggeratedly, “If you tell me your name, I’ll let you know the real reason I’m out here everyday. I swear it’s not what you think.”

Somehow, she looks even more pissed than usual, but her curiosity wins in the end. “...It’s Trini.” she spits it out like it hurts her to say. Zack immediately reacts with the biggest smile he’s put on in a long time. “Trini, huh? Trini, Trini, Trini. Well I’ll have you know, Trini, I live in this here traincar.” He exclaims, slapping the rusty metal car for emphasis.

Trini immediately recoils, “Fuck you man. Seriously, how _stupid_ do you think I am?” She shakes her head at him, then bolts, moving faster than he’s ever seen her go.

“Yo homie, my name’s Zack by the way!!!” He shouts, not bothering to stop her. She’d come around again soon enough. She always does. But next time, they’ll be on first name basis.

Zack smiles, climbing up to the top of his traincar. He spends the night staring up at the stars and imagining a life where he and Trini tackle their issues together.

 

* * *

 

Country music echoes through an underground cave, bouncing off metallic walls. A young man sings along softly while scribbling in a notebook. “I’m going to have so much to show him when he gets back.”

 

* * *

 

The sun has been gone for hours by the time the traveling teenagers finally stop for the night. 

“Are you sure about this Jason? I feel like I could keep going for a few more miles.”

He shakes his head, tosses down his bag, and immediately begins searching for firewood. “That’s just the adrenaline talking. Come on, set up the tent.”

This forest looks no different from the one they began in. Paranoia ate away at the pair, forcing them to constantly check their GPS as they walked. The boy checks one final time, ensuring they had truly walked the 18 miles to their current location. It’s still too close for comfort, but they took every precaution to make sure they weren’t followed.

Once their campsite starts coming together, Jason speaks up again. “It’s a long way to Angel Grove. We can’t stress our bodies out right at the beginning.” He pauses for a second, searching his companions face as she rations out some food.

“Kimberly,” he waits until he has her full attention, “I want you to know that if at any point this journey becomes too much for you, we will go to the nearest town and get you on a train.”

Kimberly picks up the nearest stick she could find, and lightly wacks him with in attempt to lighten the mood. “You know very well that’s not an option. Train tickets are too easy to track. Plus we need to save the money. Who knows how long it will take us to finds jobs that pay under the table.”

Jason shakes his head, but doesn’t argue. She probably thinks he’s underestimating her. In truth, he knows how strong she is. So if this journey ends up being too much for _her_ , that means they will have much bigger problems than money.

 

* * *

 

“Mom...what should I do now?”

The dark skinned boy paces through his underground shelter, careful of the scrapped projects scattered across the floor. As always, his own echo is the only reply he gets.

“I followed all of Dad’s instructions. I repaired all of the holes too...you know, from the explosions. My fault.”

Right at that moment, the boy’s stomach growls. The sound reverberates through the long hallways, making him chuckle, “That decides it then. I should eat.” He changes direction to go towards the kitchen, immediately tripping over a stack of sketchbooks. “Pft. And if you were here, I’m guessing you’d tell me to clean up.”

The walk feels long, even though he knows it’s not. He just misses his home. His _real_ home: the one he lived in when his parents were around. It was small - borderline cramped - but that’s the exact coziness he longs for in moments like this. “If you talk to Dad, could you tell him to hurry back? I know it doesn't work like that exactly, but try and give him a sign or something. A big old sign that says ‘Billy’.”

The chrome cabinets hold enough non-perishables to feed an army, but that stopped impressing Billy a long time ago. He wants his Mama’s cooking. Even Dad’s burnt meals seem better than anything from a can at this point.

He shakes his head at the selection, “I’m going out.”

 

* * *

 

The summer sun warms Trini’s skin as she heads to the mine. Yesterday had been shit. She hates Zack and the fact that she now thinks of him as ‘Zack’ when she had been completely content just calling him ‘Creepy Train Kid’.

She would have to find a new place to relax. Somewhere far away from the annoying boy.

Trini is deep in thought, body moving on autopilot. She doesn’t even notice anything is different until she runs straight into a fence. “Ow! What the hell..?”

There had always been a gate there, but seeing it closed was like finding her mother rifling through her room; she’d be pissed no matter how many times it happens. Security is low at the mines; that’s the whole reason she comes here. So while most days she could walk right through the gate, it’s not like there’s cameras here to stop her from getting in another way.

Just as she decides to hop the fence, she the distinct sound of footsteps coming up from behind her. Trini looks around wildly for a place to hide, but there’s nothing.

A boy around her age comes into view. It’s not Zack - thank the gods - but this guy also doesn’t look like someone she’d hang with. His arms are overflowing with grocery bags, and he juggles a box of Krispy Kreme donuts on top of all that.

When he sees her, he smiles. “Hey there! Did you forget your passcard?”

He has to be stoned, Trini thinks, as there’s no way anyone should reasonably expect her to have a passcard. She’s not exactly dressed for a day of mining, and visibly too young for the job. Not that he looks any more professional...

“Yeah. I left it in my other uniform.” She deadpans.

“Okay! Here!” His awkwardly jiggles around in his pocket, and for a second Trini almost expected him to actually have a passcard. Instead he takes out what seems to be a magnet and a multitool. Within seconds of him going at it, the gate opens. “That’s a cool uniform by the way. Looks good, unlike the ones I’ve seen. Not very practical though. Oh! My name’s Billy!” He tries to shake her hand, but the groceries aren’t cooperating and she’s not exactly meeting him halfway.

“Well then. Bye!” He quickly turns and walks off, leaving behind an open fence and a bewildered Trini.

 

* * *

 

“What is the meaning of this?” A tall, heavyset man mutters in distaste.

A slender man with round spectacles jogs up behind him “Oh. It looks like the security guards left the gate open again. I really thought that monetary incentive would get them working harder.”

“No,” the first man argues, fiddling with the pass scanner, “Do not pin this on them. The machine has been rigged to stay on green.”

The smaller man scurries up to get a better look, “I mean...if we’re being reasonable here, the guards still should have stopped the perp-”

“Enough. Don’t you see there’s more at play?” He looks out at the land ahead, “Something is going on in my gold mine.”

His partner coughs awkwardly, “ _Our_ gold mine.”

“Just figure out what’s going on and solve it. Before I do.”


	2. Alphonse the 5th

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have come offering character development

“If we keep up this pace, it should only take two more days to get to Angel Grove.” Jason repeats for the umpteenth time. He’s goal oriented, and Kimberly respects it, but wonders if that’s the best way to live. Maybe if they hadn’t planned out their lives so meticulously in the beginning, they wouldn’t be here now. 

“We have all of the time in the world Jay. Don’t you want to experience this freedom while we have it?” They look each other up and down with weighted gazes. Jason can’t figure her out. Everything Kimberly says and does feels like a challenge, like she’s just waiting for him to call her bluff. 

Usually, it just leaves him confused and her disappointed. 

“What did you have in mind,” he mutters, looking away in defeat. 

She frowns slightly, signaling to him that he has  _ already  _ misstepped. Somehow. 

Kim turns and briskly walks away before turning back to him. He raises his head at the action, noticing how close she is to the edge of a short cliff. She slowly backs up, face showing no emotions. Jason can tell that it’s all part of the game, but he doesn’t know the next move. It’s all he can do to step towards her. 

She throws down her bags, taking another large step backwards, right to the edge of the cliff. 

“Kimberly, stop. You’re gonna fall and hurt yourself.”

She shakes her head at him in fake disbelief. “Have more faith in me Jason,” Kimberly says, while smoothly removing her shorts and top. “I just thought we could take a dip…” And with that, she allows herself to fall backwards. The plunge easily transitions into a dive, and Jason runs to the edge just in time to see her breach the water. 

His hand combs through his hair in relief, but at the same time, she makes him want to pull it all out. How had she known there was water down there? How had he  _ not _ ? 

She calls out to him, breaking his fruitless lecture-to-self.  _ So much for getting there in two days,  _ he thinks, tugging off his shirt. 

He feels a little bit better once Kim is complimenting his cannonball, smiling like he’s done something right. 

* * *

 

“Yo wassup my people! Today we are filming in Angel Grove’s famous gold mine. Now, I know what you’re thinking, ‘Zack, you  _ always _ film in the mine’ and well… you’re not wrong. But this time is different, because today, ya boy’s teaching ya how to get rich quick.”

He smiles through his lie for the sake of the video. Zack has never known what it was like to be rich and society reminds him of that every day. 

He gently sets the camera onto a tripod, revealing the stream behind him. “In this video, we’re gonna pan for gold. Most people use waterproof boots for this, but I never miss an opportunity to put on my swim trunks.” Hopefully his killer bod will distract the viewers from his lack of equipment. “Pro tip one: find a section of a stream where the water is running fast enough that you can see straight to the bottom, but not so fast that it’s continuously displacing the sand.”

Zack takes a few minutes to make some silly faces at the camera, throwing a few cartwheels and stunts in there. Later, he’ll go to the library and edit them in throughout the video to spice things up. 

“Here I have a pan, two streamers - large and small, a garden shovel, 5 gallon bucket and a sniffer bottle. There’s tons more stuff you can buy, but we’re trying to make money, not spend it.” Another falsity. If Zack had the money to put out, these definitely wouldn’t be his chosen tools.

He grabs the shovel and brings the bucket to the edge of the stream, where he hops in with a dramatic splash. “Just dig and throw that shit in there!” He shovels sand and stone into the bucket with as much finesse as he can manage. Every second has to be entertaining. He  _ needs _ the views.

“Young man, what do you think you’re doing!?” A new voice yells. A middle aged man storms over from where he has been observing. 

_ Don’t panic _ , Zack thinks, cooly jumping out of the stream. “It looks like we have a surprise guest star!” He smiles at the man, hoping to lower his defenses. Zack walks up and throws his arms around him, angling their bodies towards the camera. “What’s your name sir?”

The stranger flusters in front of the lens, tugging at the collar of his shirt. “I-It’s Alphonse. And and you shouldn’t be here!” 

“Alphonse, my dude, what’s a businessman like you doing trespassing on private land?”

At this, Alphonse's face goes red. “I will have you know that this ‘private land’ belongs to me! W-well, in part.”

“See kids,” Zack says, deflecting to the camera. He walks up and grabs it from the stand, collapsing the tripod in the same movement. “This is exactly why you always go through the proper steps to get clearance when adventuring. It makes misunderstandings like this so much easier to correct.” He discretely slides the mini tripod into his waistband while talking. 

The older man visually calms down, “O-oh, did you do so? I wasn’t inform- HEY GET BACK HERE!!” He yells as Zack runs away as quickly as his feet will take him. Trees, bushes, boulders: he maneuvers around all obstacles with practiced ease. 

During his escape he does a mental review.

  * Panning materials lost? That’s 30 dollars on ebay
  * Potential gold revenue? Huge blow. His ideal spot has been compromised
  * Alphonse? Doubtful that he’ll let this go. Zack is going to hang low for a while
  * Video? As good as gold. There’s nothing better than a title of “Caught in the Act”



Zack smirks. Not too shabby. 

* * *

 

Trini settles onto the rusty metal floor, the dulled screen of her phone as her only light source. She has to be careful; the wrong person might find her before she gets what she wants.

She passes the time playing on some dumb app. The cell signal is shit in the mines, but it’s not like she has anyone to text regardless. Suddenly, the door slams open and closed. A dark figure leans against it panting

“Zack?” she whispers. 

“Ohmygodholyshit what are you dOING HERE!?” He yells in her direction, flipping on a solar powered lamp. 

Trini is taken aback at his behavior and scooches away slightly. “I thought you would be happy to see me…?”

He takes another large breath and allows himself to fall to the floor. “Of course I am but I didn’t expect to find you in my hOUSE!” 

She frowns, crossing her arms and glaring. “Look, if we’re gonna work together, I need you to drop the bs.”

Zack rolls over to face her, sporting a serious expression for the first time. “Open up your eyes kid. This is what poverty looks like.” He pats the floor of his abandoned traincar. “My whole family is dead or gone and I sure as hell am not turning myself over to the state this late in the game. Only two more months until I’m 18, then I can rejoin society without CPS up my ass.”

Trini’s demeanor wavers. “But...you don’t look...homeless?”

He’s getting frustrated and speaks to her in a raised voice. “Oh yeah? You think I could walk around under the radar looking like a homeless man? You think I could walk into a store in filthy rags? This isn’t some big city Trini! We don’t have people sleeping on the streets! I do what I have to do, which includes keeping up appearances. Don’t talk to me about how things ‘look’!”

“I...I’m sorry. I can’t even imagine -”

“I don’t need your pity. Now what did you mean by ‘work together’” 

She tries he best to talk to him like she always would. If he doesn’t want her pity, she sure as hell won’t offer it up. “I need your help.”

“Sound interesting. Keep talking.”

Trini moves closer to him, dropping her voice to a whisper. “I saw this boy the other day while coming into the mine. The gate was locked, but he rigged it open in seconds, like it was nothing. Then he just said ‘goodbye’ and walked off without explaining himself or questioning me.”

Zack sits up. “Sounds like my kinda guy. What’s the issue here?”

“Ever since that happened, security has been crazy. We gotta find him and figure out what his deal is.”

Zack thinks back to his encounter with Alphonse; it’s the first time he’s ever been spotted by anyone but Trini. 

“I’m in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will get into the meat of the story with more character interaction. 
> 
> And to clarify, Jason and Kimberly's friendship isn't strained, they just happen to be on different wavelengths most of the time

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little intro to getcha guessing everyone's backstory. 
> 
> This is a commissioned work. If you'd like to commission me, shoot me a message on my tumblr @trinis-beanie-says-it-all
> 
> If you'd like, you can tip me here: https://ko-fi.com/A3544CMZ


End file.
